The Moods of Ginger Mick | Page 8

If it 'adn't bumped a clean cove,
name o' Bill.
An' they done it like they done it when a word went to the push
That a nark 'oo'd crooled a pal wus run to ground.
They done it like
they done it when the blokes out in the bush
Passed a telegraft that cops wus nosin' round.
There wus no one rung
a fire-bell, but the tip wus passed about; An' they fixed a night to clean
the Wazzir out.
Yes, I've notions uv the Wazzir. It's been pilin' up its dirt
Since it mated wiv the Devil in year One,
An' spawned a brood uv
evil things to do a man a 'urt
Since the lurk uv snarin' innercents begun.
But it's sweeter an' it's
cleaner since one wild an' woolly night When the little A.I.F. put up a
fight.
Now, it started wiv some 'orseplay. If the 'eads 'ad seen the look,
Dead in earnest, that wus underneath the fun,
They'd 'ave tumbled
there wus somethin' that wus more than commin crook,
An' 'ave stopped the game before it 'arf begun.
But the fellers larfed
like school-boys, tbo' they orl wus more than narked, An' they 'ad the
'ouses well an' truly marked.
Frum a little crazy balkiney that clawed agin a wall
A chair come crasbin' down into the street;
Then a woman's
frightened screamin' give the sign to bounce the ball,
An' there came a sudden rush uv soljers' feet.
There's a glimpse uv
frightened faces as a door caved in an' fell; An' the Wazzir wus a
'owlin' screamin' 'ell.

Frum a winder 'igh above 'em there's a bloke near seven feet,
Waves a bit uv naked Egyp' in the air.
An' there's squealin' an' there's
shriekin' as they chased 'em down the street,
When they dug 'em out like rabbits frum their lair.
Then down into
the roadway gaudy 'ouse'old gods comes fast, An' the Wazzir's Great
Spring Cleanin' starts at last.
Frum the winders came pianners an' some giddy duchess pairs;
An' they piled 'em on the roadway in the mire,
An' 'eaped 'em 'igh wiv
fal-de-rals an' pretty parlor chairs,
Which they started in to purify wiv fire.
Then the Redcaps come to
argue, but they jist amused the mob; Fer tbe scavengers wus warmin' to
their job.
When the fire-reels come to quell 'em-'struth! they 'ad no bloomin' 'ope;
Fer they cut the 'ose to ribbons in a jiff;
An' they called u'pon tbe
drink-shops an' poured out their rotten dope,
While the nigs 'oo didn't run wus frightened stiff.
An' when orb wus
done an' over, an' they wearied uv the strife, That old Wazzir'd 'ad the
scourin' uv its life.
Now, old Gin er ain't quite candid; 'e don't say where 'e came in;
But 'e mentions that'e don't get no C.B.,
An' 'e's 'ad some pretty
practice dodgin' punishment fer sin
Down in Spadger's since 'is early infancy.
So I guess, if they went
after 'im, they found 'im snug in bed. Fer old Ginger 'as a reel tactician's
'ead.
An' 'e sez that when 'e wandered down the Wazzir later on

It wus like a 'ome where 'oliness reposed;
Fer its sinfulness wus
'idden, an' its brazenness wus gone,
An' its doors, wiv proper modesty, wus closed.
If a 'ead looked out a
winder, as they passed, it quick drew in; Fer the Wazzir wus a wowser,
scared from sin.
If old Pharaoh, King uv Egyp', 'e 'ad lived to see the day
When they tidied up 'is 'eap uv shame an' sin,
Well, 'e mighter took it
narsty, fer our fellers 'ave a way
Uv completin' any job that they begin.
An' they might 'ave left 'is
Kingship nursin' gravel-rash in bed. . . But old Pharaoh, King uv Egyp',
'e is dead.
VI. SARI BAIR
So, they've struck their streak o' trouble, an' they got it in the neck, An'
there's more than one ole pal o' mine 'as 'anded in 'is check; But Ginger
still takes nourishment; 'e's well, but breathin' 'ard. An' so 'e sends the
strength uv it scrawled on a chunk uv card.
"On the day we 'it the transport there wus cheerin' on the pier, An' the
girls wus wavin' hankies as they dropped a partin' tear, An' we felt like
little 'eroes as we watched the crowd recede, Fer we sailed to prove
Australia, an' our boastin' uv the breed.
"There wus Trent, ex~toff, uv England; there wus Green, ex-pug, uv
'Loo; There wus me, an' Craig uv Queensland, wiv 'is 'ulkin'
six-foot-two: An' little Smith uv Collin'wood, 'oo 'owled a rag-time air.
On the day we left the Leeuwin, bound nor'-west for
Gawd-knows-where.
"On the day we come to Cairo wiv its niggers an' its din,
To fill our
eyes wiv desert sand, our souls wiv Eastern sin, There wus cursin' an'
complainin'; we wus 'ungerin' fer fight - Little